HYDERABAD: A day after the Telangana government unveiled its electric vehicles (EV) policy, officials signed MoUs with three companies on Friday to manufacture the eco-friendly machines with a proposed investment of Rs 2,450 crore.
Two more companies gave letters of intent to invest Rs 750 crore for manufacturing EVs, in the presence of IT and Industries Minister KT Rama Rao at the Telangana EV Summit held in Hyderabad on the day.
The companies would be located in the two EV clusters which the State government will develop. Rama Rao, along with Transport Minister Puvvada Ajay Kumar, launched the Telangana EV Policy 2020-30 at the summit. Forest and Environment Minister A Indrakaran Reddy was also present on the occasion.
Two industrial clusters
At the summit, Rama Rao announced that the Telangana government will develop two exclusive industrial clusters at Chandanvelli-Sitarampur in Shabad town of Rangareddy district and Divitipalli in ahbubnagar district, where electric vehicles and batteries will be manufactured.
The State government will also develop a mobility cluster, which will be announced next month, he said. The IT and Industries Minister invited the industry leaders to make Hyderabad their manufacturing base for EVs.
He highlighted the 3D mantra of 'Decarbonisation, Digitisation and Decentralisation' for sustainable development. He also said that the State government will set up 178 charging stations across Telangana.
Telangana government will facilitate initial charging stations
Mahindra & Mahindra managing director and CEO Pawan K Goenka, who participated in the summit over video-conference, said the company’s tractor manufacturing unit at Zaheerabad will be expanded and the latest K2 series tractors would be produced there.
The firm will also manufacture EVs in Telangana, he said. Goenka congratulated Rama Rao on the launch of an all-encompassing EV policy, which covers demand generation, charging infrastructure, EV manufacturing, and in a first, incentives for electric tractors. "I am sure this policy will catalyse the EV movement in the country," he said. To this, Rama Rao said, "Pawan Goenka’s announcement is a matter of pride for us.'
IT and Industries Principal Secretary Jayesh Ranjan said the government would facilitate initial charging stations. His counterpart in the Transport Department, Sunil Sarma, said there were 10,500 RTC buses, 60 lakh vehicles in Hyderabad and 1.23 crore in the State, and there is every need to switch to EVs.YES Bank chairman Sunil Mehta also participated in the summit virtually.
Actor Vijay Deverakonda, the promoter of Hyderabad-based startup Watts and Volts Mobility, attended the summit too. His company provides electric bikes for first and last mile connectivity.
Bumper investments in EV sector
Rs 300 crore: Olectra to set up electric bus manufacturing unit, create direct/indirect employment for 3,500 people in 5 years. It has sought 100 acres
Rs 2,000 crore: Mytrah Energy to set up electric bus manufacturing unit, generate direct/indirect employment to about 7,000 people in 5 years. It has sought 200 acres
Rs 150 cr: ETO Motors to set up a 3-wheeler EV manufacturing unit, create direct/indirect employment opportunities for about 1,500 people in TS
Rs 250 cr: Gayam Auto Works gives letter of intent for investing in TS, will generate 1,400 jobs
Rs 500 cr: PUR Energy gives letter of intent for investing in TS, will generate 1,500 jobs
Automotive Research Association of India, Pune, signs MoU with Telangana government
Taxi aggregator Uber launches Green EV initiative; commits to introducing e-cars, rickshaws in shared mobility space